Bottle



D. E. STICKNEY 3,069,039

BOTTLE Filed Jan. 26, 1961 INVENTOR.

MQONALD E. STICKNEY FINN G. OLSEN ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,069,039. BOTTLE Donald E. Stickney, 5151 Curtis Road, Plymouth, Mich.

Filed Jan. 26, 1961, Ser. No. 85,066

3 Claims. (Cl. 215-1) The present invention relates to a bottle and cap, and more particularly to such a bottle which has improved pouring characteristics.

In the conventional gallon or half gallon jug or bottle which has a handle and screw-on cap, liquid contents of the bottle necessarily require a considerable amount of time to be discharged because of the small neck of the bottle and because of the need for air to enter the bottle to replace the liquid contents as the latter are being discharged. This entry of air as the liquid contents are being discharged also results in a pulsating, irregular flow of the liquid.

Various devices have been developed to operate with oil cans or the like, which devices can be inserted into the cans to provide vents through which air can enter the cans other than through their necks when the liquids therein are being discharged. However, none of these teach a unitary construction which requires only a single cap to effect a complete seal or closure for the container.

It is the principal object of the present invention to provide an improved liquid container having a removable sealing cap, which container is constructed and arranged 0 permit a rapid and smooth discharge of liquid thererom.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide a liquid container of the foregoing character which is made of a suitable plastic material and formed as a unitary, one-piece construction with an appropriate vent means therein to effect the desired discharge flow characteristics, and which bottle has a cap associated with it, which cap effects a sealing of both the open neck of the bottle and the necessary opening of the vent means when the cap is screwed in place. I

It is still another object of the present invention to provide a one-piece bottle of the foregoing character which has a handle which contains a vent duct communicating with the atmosphere adjacent the neck and with the interior of the bottle adjacent the bottom thereof so that when the bottle is tilted or inverted for pouring purposes air can be vented through the handle to the bottom of the bottle to displace liquid discharged therefrom.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide a bottle of the foregoing character which is constructed and arranged so that when the cap is secured in sealing relation on the bottle neck, the cap will effectively seal both the vent opening of said vent duct and the opening in said neck.

Other objects of this invention will appear in the following description and appended claims, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification wherein like reference characters designate corresponding parts in the several views.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a vertical section taken on the line 11 of FIGURE 2, showing one embodiment of the present invention;

FIGURE 2 is a top plan view of the bottle shown in FIGURE 1; and

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged fragmentary section similar to the view of FIGURE 1, but showing a cap secured in place on the neck of the bottle.

Before explaining the present invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the deails of construction and arrangement of parts illustrated in the accompanying drawings, since I 3,069,039 Patented Dec. 18, 1962 the invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced or carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology or terminology employed herein is for the purpose of description and not of limitation.

Referring now to the drawing, one embodiment of the present invention will be described in greater detail. The bottle 10 is preferably made of a suitable plastic material and has a handle 12 formed as an integral part thereof. A neck 14 is provided at the upper end with external threads 16, and a cap 18 is adapted to be screwed thereon. The cap 18 is also preferably made of plastic material and has an annular groove 20 which permits pressure edges to occur around the top of the bottle at the arrows A and B when the cap 18 is screwed firmly in place on the top of the neck 14. Thus, an effective closure is provided for the open neck 14.

The handle 12 is constructed with a passageway or vent duct 22 therein which opens at its lower end into the interior of the bottle 10 and opens at its upper end to the atmosphere adjacent the neck 14. The bottle 10 has a shoulder 24 around its circumference immediately below the neck 14 and the vent duct 22 terminates in the button or enlargement '26 which projects up from the shoulder 24. Thus, the button 26 is in position to be engaged by the lower edge of cap 18 prior to the shoulder 24, and thus, when the cap 18 is screwed onto the threaded neck 14, the lower edge will cover the opening of the vent duct 22, thereby sealing the same. The cap 18 is proportioned so that it will engage the button 26 immediately prior to engaging the neck 14 at the pressure lines A and B. By selecting suitable plastic materials for making the bottle 10 and cap 18, the button 26 or the cap 18 can yield slightly to assure a tight seal at the upper end of vent duct 22, and thereafter, the sealing will be efiected at A and B by an additional turning of the cap 18 relative to neck 14. For the purpose of gripping cap 18, the circumferential surface may have axial extending ridges formed therein, as seen at 28. It is to be understood that substitution of materials may make it necessary for the initial contact of the cap 18 and the button 26 and contact lines A and B to be made simultaneously or even at the contact lines A and B first, and such variations are to be understood as coming within the scope of the present invention.

It is also to be understood that the shape of the handle 12 may be modified so that the vent duct 22 can terminate at any desired position within the bottle 10 where it will still provide suitable venting for the interior of the bottle when liquid is being poured therefrom. Thus, if desired, the Vent duct 22 could terminate immediately above the bottom 30 of bottle 10. It can be seen that in such arrangement, the bottom end of vent duct 22 will be on the uppermost side of bottle 10 during a pouring operation, and therefore, the desired venting will be effected to provide a smooth and rapid discharge of the liquid contained in the bottle 10.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. In combination, a bottle having an externally threaded neck with an opening of relatively small cross-sectional area and a circumferential shoulder below said threaded neck, said shoulder having an upwardly extending projection adjacent to the threaded portion of said neck, said bottle having integrally formed therein a passageway opening to the atmosphere at one end in' the upper end of said projection and opening at the other end to the interior of the bottle at one side thereof, and a cap having internal threads for screwing of the cap on and off said bottle, said cap having portions sealingly engaging the peripheries of said open one end and said opening for effecting a closing thereof, said portions being adapted to engage said peripheries with increasing pressure as an incident to screwing the cap onto the bottle, at least one of the cap and the bottle being a form sustaining but resiliently yieldable material to enhance the sealing engagement between said portions and the peripheries of said open one end and saidopening when screwing the cap on the bottle.

2. The combination defined in claim 1 wherein said bottle has an integral handle and said passageway extends through said handle.

3. The combination defined in claim 1 wherein said bottle and said cap are plastic material and said cap is relatively harder than said bottle.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 591,735 Brewer Oct. 12, 1897 649,394 Bonnette et al. May 8, 1900 819,191 Weeks May 1, 1906 FOREIGN PATENTS 11,630 Germany Aug. 23, 1956 

